"Lave us, would ye?" May the divil saze ye, ye mane thief of the world.
Whin I hired ye to tend us and behave like a dacent man, ye up and cuts,
jist because me friend gets a scratch on his arm."

"The police are coming," roared the fellow, rendered desperate by his
beating.

"Let them come, if they will, but ye shan't go," cried the doctor,
sitting astride of his fallen foe and glancing at Fred and I in triumph,
while the perspiration streamed down his face in torrents.

"I saw the police trotting down the road," yelled the fallen man.

"Who calls the police?" cried a deep-toned voice near at hand.

I knew the speaker well, although I confess that it started me to hear
him so unexpectedly, and looking up I saw that Murden sat on his horse,
a few paces off, calmly surveying the strange group before him. At a
short distance were six of his men, also mounted and drawn up in line
awaiting their chief's solution of the difficulty.

"I think that my presence is needed here if you intend to murder that
fellow, doctor," Murden said, good naturedly, addressing O'Haraty, who
kept his position, looking somewhat foolish at being caught.

"The mane scamp," began the doctor, when Murden checked him.

"What, is the cause of the gathering, and why do I find an officer of
her majesty, lying on the ground wounded and insensible?"

"Why, the fact of it is, Mr. Officer," Merriam began, but apparently
afraid of the consequences, he stopped and looked hard towards the
doctor, as though asking him to take up the answer and carry it through
in the best manner possible.

"O, the divils," roared the doctor, rising from his seat, much to the
relief of the driver, who apparently thanked God that he was rid of such
an incumbrance.

"O, the spalpeens," continued O'Haraty, shaking his fist at an imaginary
enemy a long distance off. "O, if there is law to be had in the land
we'll pursue ye wid not only the police force, but the whole army, and
then we'll see if ye are so bold."

"What is the matter, doctor?" asked Murden, who I thought suspected what
had taken place, and was disposed to overlook it, yet not a word of
recognition had he bestowed upon Fred and myself, so we kept in the
background.

"Matter?" yelled the doctor, apparently desperately angry; "why, here's
me friends and myself out for a bit of a walk and to kill a kangaroo or
two, when a party of sneaking bushrangers ups and fires at us, and down
tumbles Wattles, shot in t